A/N: Revised on 4/12/15

My chin rested on the middle of the front seat of the Impala, reading over Sam's shoulder, Metallica was blasting from the speakers. It was an odd case, but hell, any case hunters picked up was, well, different. Dean asked from the driver's seat, "What is going on with this thing again?"

Sam replied, "Hibbing, Minnesota. A boy watching TV in his bedroom. He hears a noise outside and looks out the window. A man is walking in a parking lot, he gets down on the ground to look under the car. Then totally freaked out. Tries to run away, and quote on quote, ' a monster drags him under the car and the man was screaming.' "

"What? The dark, a monster? Nah, never." I said as sarcastically as I could manage. Dean chuckled, "Don't know what you are talking about Jen."

An hour later we were at the boy's home. Sam and Dean had done a quick change into state police uniforms, and I was in a deputy uniform. Dean turned to me when we hit the step, "Alright, Jen, you let us take lead on this."

"When hell freezes over." And I knocked on the door. Dea was not amused and Sam chuckled, "Hey, you picked her."

A lady in her early thirties opened the door slowly,

"Mrs. McKay?", I asked with a smile.

"Yes?"

"We were wondering if we could speak to your son about the incident two nights ago? We are with the Minnesota state police department."

"Sure, come on in." She turned and walked into her house. I turned back to the boys and winked. Mrs. McKay continued speaking, approaching a young boy, "I know you're just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true."

Sam replied, "Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities."

Dean chimed in, "But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so…."

I could tell that the boy was nervous. His mother had obviously condemned what he had been telling people. She had probably told him there was no such thing as monsters and that he was seeing things or making it all up. I bent down to his eye level, touched his shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. What you saw was important, and it will really help us find who did this. I will believe whatever you tell me."

"I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise."

Sam asked patiently, "What did it sound like."

"It sounded like….a monster."

Dean and Sam looked at each other, then at me. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged my shoulders. A frustrated Mrs. McKay told her son, "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV."

"Godzilla Vs. Mothra." Evan looked away. I smiled, great flick. Dean got excited, "That's my favorite Godzilla movie. It's so much better than the original, huh?"

"Totally.", Evan smiled back at him.

"Yeah.", then he glared at Sam, "He likes the remake."

"Really?", I looked at Sam

"Yuck", Evan replied. I held my fist out to Evan and he fist bumped back, smiling. Sam cleared his throat, and Dean's expression totally changed. Ah, Sam, all work and no play, "Evan, did you see what this thing was?"

"No. But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car."

I asked this time,"What happened next, bud?"

"It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound. Like this…whining growl. " Dean looked over at me and I nodded slowly, this was most definitely panning out to be our type of thing. Sam turned to Mrs. McKay. "Thanks for your time."

Leaving the house Sam turned to Dean, "What do you think?"

"Could be our type of thing, maybe, maybe not."

Sam then looked at me, "Jen, what do you think?"

I was taken aback, Sam being civil? New development. "Are you sure you want to hear my opinion?"

"Yes, you're part of this too."

I almost choked, Dean almost fell on his face, "Ummm...It's a toss up. It could be something, it could be nothing. We don't know enough yet."

Dean, now recovered, "I second that, and why don't we hit up the local bar while we figure it out?"

I smiled, reaching for the car door, "Hey, you know I am in if there is beer and burgers involved."

By 7PM we were checked into the local motel for a few nights and at the local bar called the Kugel's Keg. Sam was nursing a beer, researching. Dean and I were playing a pretty intense game of darts. So far he hadn't been able to beat me.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Just can't hang with me Dean. I think beating you is actually starting not to be fun."

He shook his head, " You're freaking hilarious, how the hell did you get that good?"

"Called perfect practice makes perfect performance.", I smiled and winked at him. He tried so hard to look pissed off at me but couldn't keep his face straight. Sam finally looked up from the newspapers, "Hey guys, so, local police have not ruled out foul play. Apparently, there were signs of a struggle."

"Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn't our kind of gig." Dean replied.

I thought for a second, "Maybe not, I think your Dad had marked this area, Dean. Possible grounds for something or another. Took me awhile to remember it, but I am pretty sure it is in there."

I pulled the book from my oversized jacket and tossed it on the table. Sam nodded, "I just saw that too."

Dean's face crinkled, "Why would he even do that?"

Sam opened to the page in the journal, "Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes. He found this too… this county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state. "

"It is weird." I agreed.

Dean looked confused, "Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Jenkins was taken from a parking lot."

Sam shrugged, "Well, there are all kinds. You know, Springhill Jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Dean, I don't know if this is our kind of gig either. "

I rubbed the back of my neck, "You are right, we can ask around in the morning. But for now, I am getting another beer."

Sam took out his wallet, "Right. Maybe we should head back to the motel. I will settle the tab"

"Uh...Hold up, I am getting another beer. Let's have another round."

Sam sighed, "We should get an early start."

I snorted, "Real life of the party, aren't you Sam? You really know how to have a good time."

Dean bumped shoulders with me, "Well Jen, grandma here can't be out past eleven."

Sam smiled. Dean exhales," Alright, I'll meet you outside, I gotta take a leak."

I grabbed my money out of my jacket, "I will wait, I was serious about that beer."

Sam headed outside and Dean went to the bathroom. I got another beer and settled our tab. I leaned on the high table, sipping, waiting. Dean came up behind me, and talked over my shoulder, "You know Jen, I still don't get you. You are twenty years old, your whole life ahead of you and you pick up everything and hit the road with two strange guys. For all you know we could be serial killers."

He smirked.I just shrugged, "There was nothing to pick up Dean. Plus someone gave you guys a good reference so there really wasn't much to think about. Stranger things have happened. And I forgot to tell you that I have a thing for serial killer types."

He laughed. "I will drink to that."

He grabbed my beer and took a swig, it was my turn to laugh, "How about you stop being such a mooch and buy your own?"

"Why, when I have a perfectly good one sitting right here?"

I took the next swig and shook my head. He watched me, "See, you have no problem with it."

"It would take a lot more than that to get between me and my beer." Dean took another swig and I finished the beer off.

"How about one more game?" Dean asked.

"You really are a glutton for punishment."

I bought two more beers. We played one more round and I wiped the floor with him. "Shit, Jen. Seriously, what the hell? Couldn't even give me a shot."

I laughed, "If you don't win fair it's not a win."

I raised my eyebrows quick, and finished my beer. He looked me up and down again. I looked at him too. I would be lying to myself if I said he wasn't attractive. He shook his head, "Alright, we should probably go before Sam get's himself into trouble."

We walked out into the parking lot, it was dark and a group of bikers were heading in the bar. When we got to the Impala, the journal was on the hood and Sam was nowhere in sight, "Dean, he isn't here."

I could see Dean's face go totally blank, the panic setting in. He opened the door to the car. My stomach dropped out. Dean yelled, "Sammy!?"

Where in the hell, "Sam!"

Dean runs over to a drunk biker with a girl hanging on him, "Hey, you guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so? "

They shook their heads.

"Dammit." I yelled again, "Sam!"

Dean was going into full on panic mode. I grabbed his arm and he turned to me, "Dean, we are going to find him."

I look him in the eyes and I can see the doubt. I caught something out of the corner of my eye,

"Look."

I point to the top of the street light. Sitting on top of it is a highway surveillance camera. He shook my hand off and ran toward the street, "Sam!"

He ran into the middle of the highway, spinning maniacally. I had to run out and pull his ass off the street before he got hit, "Jen, we have to go to the police department now and get the surveillance footage."

"No, we are going back to the motel. It's after midnight, they aren't going to be open. And even though I am usually up for some good B and E, we might need the locals help on this one."

"I can't just leave him."

"You aren't, Sam is a big boy and can take care of himself. The best thing we can do is go back to the motel, do some research and get some sleep so that we can get to the sheriff's office right when they open."

He nodded. I held out my hand., "Give me the keys."

The fucked up thing was that he did. I started the Impala and sped off with Dean riding shotgun. He look so distraught and pitiful. I couldn't even imagine having a brother go missing like that, especially with how much Dean cared about Sam.

When we arrived back at the motel I didn't even go to my room, I walked right into theirs with Dean. I grabbed Sam's laptop and sat on the couch. Dean sat on the opposite side with the journal spread out on the table, "Jen, I can't sit around like this."

I grabbed the top of his hand and squeezed, "You aren't", I half smiled, "We are doing this so we know exactly what has him and what we can do to stop it. Sam can take care of himself. He is better equipped to handle this than anyone else."

He squeezed my hand back and turned back to the journal..For hours we sat there in silence. Going back at least 50 years there were an abnormal amount of missing person reports in this area of the state, but that was about it. No schedule, no pattern. By 4 AM Dean was dozing off and spreading out on the couch. I grabbed a cover off the bed and threw it over him. I continued to look through cases. This shit just didn't feel right, at least not in the paranormal sense.

Around six, daylight was just coming through the blinds and I was starting to nod in and out, Dean was snoring lightly. And at quarter to eight when I jerked awake, I had a blanket over me. Dean had already gotten a shower, "You ready to go?"

"Let's go find your brother."

We arrived at the Sheriff's Department in record time, Dean opened the door and let me in ahead of him. A deputy greeted us from behind the desk, "I'm Deputy Kathleen Bauer, how can I help you two?"

Dean pulled out the fake ID that I had snagged at the bar the other night. She looked over it quickly, "So, what can we do for you, Officer Washington? "

Dean smiled, turning on the charm. "I'm working a missing persons."

"I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police."

"Oh, no. No, there's someone else. Actually, it's my cousin. We were havin' a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven't seen him since. This is his girlfriend, Jen."

When Kathleen looked back down at the desk, I shot Dean a look, and he smirked. Asshole. "Does your cousin have a drinking problem?"

Dean chuckled, "Sam? Two beers and he's doin' karaoke. No, he wasn't drunk. He was taken."

Kathleen sat down at her computer and gestured toward the chair opposite, Dean looked at me and gestured for me to sit down. As I passed him he hissed in my ear, "You need to act a little more upset."

I gave him another look and rolled my eyes. Kathleen had pulled up some missing person thing on her computer, I wasn't exactly sure what she was using, "Alright. What's his name?"

"Winchester. Sam Winchester.", I said making my voice shaky.

"Like the rifle?"

"Like the rifle." Dean replied.

His name popped up on the screen and she clicked on it. A picture of Sam's California license came up, "Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder."

Oh, dear God do not let her click on his DMV photo. Dean swallowed hard, it was my turn to chuckled uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah, Dean. Kind of the black sheep of the family. Handsome, though."

"I don't know, I always thought he was kind of an ass." I said.

Kathleen looked between both of us.

"Uh-huh," she continued to type on the computer, "Well, he's not showing up in any current field reports. "

Dean spoke, "Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway."

"The county traffic cam?"

Dean nodded, "Right. Yeah. I'm thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever."

"Well, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the county works department, but—well, anyhow, let's do this the right way." She got up and rifled through the filing cabinet, pulling out papers.

"Why don't you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?"

She handed Dean the clipboard and a pen, "Officer, look, uh, he's family. I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

Dean slammed his hand on the desk, "Well, tell me something. Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back? Sam's my responsibility. And he's comin' back. I'm bringin' him back."

She set her jaw and looked at him. It was my turn, "Please officer."

She sighed. Then nodded.

Half an hour later we were sitting on a bench outside the County Works Department. Dean was leaning forward with his head in his hands. I was leaning back, legs crossed and arm behind him on the back of the bench. He was focused on the task at hand but he was distraught.

"Dean, it is going to be fine. The camera will turn up something."

"I hope so or we are back to where we started, dick."

He rubbed his face and looked up at me. I moved my hand to his shoulder and shoved playfully, "Always the debbie downer. I'm not going to stop until we find your brother."

He laughed and put one hand on my knee and squeezed. My breath caught, "Thanks, Jen."

"Yeah Dean. Anytime. That's what friends are for."

"Greg, Jen!" We both jumped and he stood up. Kathleen was rushing over with a stack of papers, "I think we've got something."

She handed Dean the printouts and he passed them to me as he looked over them. She kept talking, "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared."

"This really isn't what I'm looking for." Dean said.

"Just wait, wait..next one." When he flipped to the next shot there was a picture of a rusty old truck driving away.

"This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now, look at the plates." Dean flips another page and there is a close up of the truck's license plates.

"The plates look new, they are probably stolen." I pointed out. Kathleen nodded. "So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved."

A sound behind us made both Dean and I look. A beaten up old van was driving by and the engine was whining bad. Dean looked at the Deputy, "Hear that engine?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"Kind of a whining growl, isn't it?"

Kathleen shrugged, confused, "Sure, I guess so"

I watched the van as it drove around the corner.

"I'll be damned." He said.

"Son of a bitch." I said as I looked at Dean who nodded back at me.

Miles away Sam had woken up in a cage, and there was a man in the one next to him, unconscious. It was dark, dirty and smelt like wet hay. For hours Sam had been trying to kick down the door of his cage. But it never budged. The other guy groaned. Sam was relieved, "You're alive. Hey, you okay?"

The man snapped, "Does it look like I'm doin' okay?"

Sam just remained calm, trying to figure what the hell was happening, "Where are we?"

"I don't know. The country, I think. Smells like the country."

Well all of northern Minnesota is country. Sam looked at the man again, recognition setting in, "You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

Sam sighed, "I was lookin' for you."

Jenkins snorted, "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, no offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue."

"Well, my brother and his friend are out there right now, too. They are lookin' for us. So—"

Jenkins leaned up against the back of the cage, "So, he's not gonna find us. We're in the middle of for them to come back and do God-knows-what to us."

"What are they? Have you seen them?" Sam needed to know how to kill the monster in order to get them the hell out of here in one piece.

"What are you talking about?"

"Whatever's got us, what'd they look like?"

"See for yourself." The door opened and two men wearing black coats and hats walk in. One man walks over to Jenkins' cage and kicks the side of it. The other man headed to a panel of buttons attached to a wall. He inserts a key into the panel and twists it. Jenkins' cage unlocked. They tossed a plate of food at him which he devoured almost instantly. They locked the cage again and left. Sam scoffed, "I'll be damned. They're just people."

Jenkins chowed down on his food, "Yeah. What'd you expect?"

"How often do they feed you?"

"Once a day. And they use that thing over there to open the cage." He pointed to the panel on the wall.

"And that's the only time you see them?"

"So far. But I'm waitin'."

Sam looked at him, confused, "Waitin' for what?"

"Ned Beatty time, man."

Sam chuckled and started following the wiring with his eyes, "I think that's the least of your worries right now."

"Oh, yeah? " Jenkins questioned.

"Yeah. I do"

"What do you think they want, then?"

Sam reached through the top of the cage and grabbed the metal tubing that held the wiring together. He tried to pull it down but it wouldn't budge.

"It depends on who they are." Sam replied to Jenkins' question.

Jenkins tossed his empty plate to the front, "They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Lookin' for love in all the wrong places."

Sam continued to pull on the wire and the brackets holding it to the wall began to come loose.

We were in the patrol car, Dean was riding shotgun and I was back behind the mesh bars. We had just passed the bar where Sam had gone missing. Kathleen spoke, "Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so…. "

Dean finished, "So, it must've pulled off somewhere. I didn't see any other roads here or on any maps."

"Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads."

"Fan-freaking-tastic." I shook my head. This was ridiculous. Hunting monsters was one thing but monsters in the middle of the backwoods driving a rust bucket was another. Dean was annoyed as well,

"Great.", was all he said and he looked out the window. Kathleen's computer beeped, she read it and I watched her. Her face got tight and concerned, "So, Gregory."

Dean turned to look at her, "Yeah?"

"I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you."

"Mmhmm."

"And, uh, they just got back to me.", She pulled the car on the shoulder, I had a bad feeling about where this was going, "It says here your badge was stolen. And there's a picture of you."

She turned the computer so that Dean and I could see it. Shit. It was a picture of a heavy-set African American man. Dean chuckled uncomfortably, "I lost some weight. And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease."

Kathleen took off her seatbelt and reached for her gun. Shit, no door handles back here, "Okay, would you step out of the car, please?"

Dean held up his hands, "Look, look, look. If you wanna arrest me, that's fine. I'll cooperate , I swear. But, first, please...let me find Sam."

"I don't even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing. Or who the hell she is."

"Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this. "

"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer.", She looked to the back seat, " And you are an accessory."

I raised my hands and leaned back into the seat. There was nothing I could do now, just hope that he could get us outta this mess. Dean was desperate now, "Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast...please."

His voice broke, "He's my family."

I waited for a moment. The tension was thick, she was deciding how the hell to handle Dean, "I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in…"

She glanced quickly at her visor where there was a picture of her and a young man, " After we find Sam Winchester."

She took her hand off her gun and fastened her seatbelt again. I sighed and relaxed. Dean was still on edge. He glanced quickly back at me and I gave him a thumbs up. For a few hours more we drove up the highway, looking for any fresh tire tracks, or any signs of people for that matter. The few people who Kathleen questioned were upstanding citizens with nothing to hide. When darkness began to set in, she turned back towards town, "I am going to take you two back to your hotel. We will start again in the morning because these woods get kind of dangerous at night."

"But we have to keep looking for Sam", Dean said, "Aren't like the first 24 hours critical."

I stayed quiet in the backseat, honestly I was just happy I wasn't sitting in a jail cell at the moment. Kathleen looked at him sternly, "I am going to drop you two off. You are going to stay put. I will have an officer checking in throughout the night to make sure that you are still there. We will start-up again at daybreak."

With that we drove the miles back to the hotel in complete silence.

Sam was still trying to work through the wiring, but without any tools it was almost hopeless. Jenkins spoke, "What's your name, again?"

"It's Sam."

"Why don't you give it up, Sammy, there's no way out."

"Don't….call me….Sammy!" He grunts and the coil finally breaks and a piece of metal falls with picks it up and looks at it.

"What is it?" Jenkins pressed his face against the bars, trying to see what was happening.

"It's a bracket."

"Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" Jenkins said sarcastically. Suddenly, Jenkins' cage door unlocks itself and swings open, "Must've been you knocked somethin' loose."

He climbed out and looked around. Am knew that something wasn't right, "I think you should get back in there, Jenkins."

"What?"

"This isn't right."

"Don't you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah. But that was too easy."

Jenkins started cracking the door open, looking out into the rain, "Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry."

"No, I'm serious. Jenkins—this might be a trap."

"Bye, Sammy." He pushed open the door and left.

"Jenkins!" Sam yelled, panicking. He could hear Jenkins leave. Minutes passed in silence and then he heard the unmistakable sound of Jenkins screaming, dying in the distance.

Dean paced back and forth in the motel room, annoyed, "Let's just go Jen."

"Do you want your ass in a jail cell? And what is going to happen if she runs your prints? You will be in supermax faster than you can ask for a lawyer. We need to stay put and you need some sleep." I was sitting at the top of his bed cross-legged. He uncapped a beer and threw one at me. I caught it, popped the top and took a swig. Dean sat beside me, stewing and pissed. He looked over at me.

"You don't understand. He isn't your brother."

"I understand perfectly. But I also know that we can't do him any good from the inside of a cell."

I took another swig of my beer and he kept looking at me. I looked back, watching his body language, trying to figure him out. I wish I knew what was going through his head because I knew he was bound to do something stupid.

He moved quickly and grabbed me behind my neck and pressed his lips against mine, hard, but not aggressive, desperate. I was caught off guard, confused. But his mouth encouraged mine and I kissed him back and after a few moments he pulled away. I was breathless and my heart was skipping, my stomach had bottomed out. Dean held on to my chin, searching my eyes. I didn't know what to do, just searched his eyes, trying to figure out why. He pulled my chin to his face and kissed me quickly again, not giving me time to respond. Then he got up and stared out the window. And as quickly as it had begun it was over.

What do you know, I was right about him doing something stupid.

That night I don't think either of us slept. I just curled up on my side and laid there. Dean sat at the table and stared out the window. A few minutes before dawn Dean threw me the keys to the Impala, "In case things don't go our way I want you to trail me and the deputy. If you see any way of saving Sam, do it. I will get you out if you get into a jam."

I nodded, "Alrighty"

Within the hour Dean had been picked up by the deputy. I waited until he texted me where they were and then left in the Impala. I parked across the street from where Dean had jumped out to get them coffee. They were talking outside of the car. I waited, thinking. I had no idea what Dean wanted from me, and even though I had prepared myself for that possibility, there was no way to predict how completely confused I was now. I needed to push this aside and focus on the problem at hand, finding Sam. But that little voice in the back of my head just wouldn't let it go.

Dean handed Kathleen a cup of coffee. He was relieved that he had been able to temporarily ditch Jen. He hadn't known what he was doing last night, he acted on impulse, and he knew there was a good chance that he had just ruined their friendship. He needed a distraction because he didn't know what he wanted, "Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck."

"Your luck is so pressed."

"Right. I was wondering...why are you helping me out, anyway? Why don't you just lock me up?"

She sighed and then spoke quietly, "My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Sam. We searched for him, but nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them...Come on. Let's keep at it."

They drove past where they had been the previous day. It was still looking pretty hopeless. Then Dean saw tracks in the mud, "Wait, wait, wait...pull over here. Pull over. It's the first turn-off I've seen so far with fresh tire tracks."

They got out of the car. Kathleen put her hand on her gun and started walking up the dirt path, "You stay here, I'll check it out."

"No way."

"You're a civilian. And a felon, I think. I'm not taking you with me."

Dean got cocky, "You're not goin' without me."

"Alright. You promise you won't get involved? You'll let me handle it?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Shake on it then." She extended her hand, Dean shook it and she slapped the handcuffs on his wrist.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on."

She drug him over and handcuffed him to the door handle, "This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need my help."

"I'll manage. Thank you." She locked the door and walked away.

"Damn, I gotta start carrying paper clips."

The deputy walked up the road where she passed rundown buildings. She walked up to the shitty house and knocked on the door, "Hello? Anybody home?"

A mangled girl comes to the door, "Hi. Who are you?"

"I'm, uh, I'm Kathleen. I'm a deputy. What's your name?"

"Missy."

"Missy. That's a pretty name. Missy, is your mom home? "

The girl looked up under her greasy hair at the deputy, "She's dead."

"I'm sorry. What about your dad?""

Missy shook her head,

"No? Can I come in for a minute?" Missy shakes her head again and starts moving for the door, Kathleen follows, "I just want you to look at a picture. Have you seen that guy? Look at that picture."

It was a picture of Sam. The girl looks behind Kathleen and smirks,

"What?", the deputy asks.

"That's gonna hurt."

The deputy turns in time to see a tall man who was just as messy swing a shovel at her head. The world went dark for Kathleen.

I pulled the Impala off the road about a mile behind where I could see the patrol car and jogged up to it. I couldn't help but smirk. Dean was struggling with handcuffs, "How about a little help?"

"Nah, I kind of like you like that." I winked but started digging around in my pockets. We both snapped our heads around at the rumble of an engine.

"Oh, son of a bitch", Dean said.

"Hold on a sec." I untwisted the antenna on the car and undid his cuffs. We ducked into the woods just as a rust bucket pulled up the way and beside the patrol car. These two hillbilly, redneck, looking mofos giggle and walk up to the car. I mean think backwoods and multiply it by ten and you are still not even close to how inbred these two looked. I elbowed Dean, "No branches on the family tree?"

He laughed under his breath. We could hear them talking to each other...

"Well, I've never seen him so angry before."

"Well, Lee, never been followed by the police before."

They get into the car and pull down the way. Dean and I start hightailing it through the woods, hoping that we can find Sam and the deputy.

Kathleen woke up to the inside of a cage. She heard a voice next to her, "You alright?"

She looked him over quickly, "Are you Sam Winchester?"

"Yeah."

"Your, uh, your cousin and girlfriend are looking for you." She rubbed the back of her head, still a little dazed from the blow.

Sam was relieved, "Thank God. Where are they?"

"I, uh...I cuffed him to my car. I don't know where she is." Sam sighed, hoping that they were still on their way.

We came around back through the woods. Beside the house there were junk cars and there was a shambled barn a ways out. Dean jutted his head to the barn and I nodded. He ran out and I trailed closely behind, staying steps splashed in the puddles and the mud soaked through our clothes. Dean and I entered the barn. It was disgusting and Dean kept making faces. He saw Sam in his cage.

"Sam?" Dean asks and Sam smiled, "Are you hurt?"

"No. It's good to see you two though."

I started looking at the locks on the cages, seeing how hard it was going to be to spring Sam.

Kathleen spoke up, "How did you get out of the cuffs?"

I turned, "He had a little help, and I know a trick or two. Hey Dean these locks are going to be a bitch. It looks electronic."

Sam pointed, "Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there."

Dean went over to the box, "Have you seen 'em?"

Sam scoffed, "Yeah. Dude, they're just people."

Dean gave him a questioning look, "And they jumped you? Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo."

I walked over to the panel, Dean just started pressing buttons. I slapped his hand away and looked at it. You definitely needed a key to operate this, or a shit load of time and supplies we didn't have. Dean turned back to Sam, "What do they want?"

"I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."

I scoffed, "That's the point. This won't make sense. With our usual playmates there are rules, patterns."

"People are just crazy." Dean said.

Sam started speaking again, "See anything else out there?"

"Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car, too." Dean replied.

Kathleen grabbed the bars, "Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?"

Dean thought for a second, "Yeah, actually, I did."

She looked down.

"Your brother's?", she nodded, "I'm sorry."

I looked at them all, "First let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards. This thing takes a key. Key? "

Sam shook his head, "I don't know."

Dean said, "Alright, I better go find it." He turned to leave, I followed but before we got to far I heard Sam, "Hey, be careful."

All he got from Dean was a ,"Yeah."

We trotted over to the house and jumped down in a basement window. I grabbed a flashlight out of my pocket and flipped it on, Dean did the same. There were shelves lined with jars and bottles that contained tons of different body parts; hearts, livers, intestines, you name it and it was there. Dean picked up a jar, "Yikes."

I kept searching until I found a board lined with Polaroids, "Pst, look at this."

They were pictures upon pictures of this family taking trophy shots with humans, the last one was of those two that had grabbed the car holding Jenkins.

" I'll say it again. Demons I get. People are crazy." Dean said.

We moved to a flight of stairs, each one creaked as we ascended but there was old music playing loudly above. As we opened the door and walk across the floor Dean bumps into a wind chime and we both freeze, not daring to breathe. I hold out a chime for him to see.

"What the hell?" Dean hissed. The windchime was made from rib-bones. Dean picked up a wooden pole leaning against the wall and we followed the wall along the house. I tap him and point toward an ashtray filled with keys. I look around the corner and see an old man butchering meat. I can only assume it is Jenkins. I make a face at Dean and he raises his eyebrows and starts digging for the key. He picked up a jar of teeth next to the tray and points at it, I shake my head. We both hear the floor creek behind us and whip around. A nasty looking girl was standing in front of us. Dean holds his index finger to his lips, "Shh. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

She pulls out a knife, "I know...Daddy!" she yells and tries to stab Dean. I grab her arm and deflect it.

"Jeez." Dean said.

I pull the knife out of her hand and she yells again, "Daddy!"

"Shut the fuck up kid."

The two boys come rushing down the stairs. One grabs Dean under the arms and the other comes after me. Dean kicks the one who has me in the back, causing his grip to loosen but not before I am whipped to the floor and lose the knife. Dean is slammed into the wall. I come up punching one in the face, knocking him over but the other one throws me across the room..

I hear Dean struggling to his feet," I'm gonna kick your ass first. Then yours."

I see the old man coming up behind him and before I can get the words out he hits Dean over the head with a frying pan. The two boys grab me and I try to fight them off but the girl shoves the knife into my side, ripping forward and a fist collides upward with my jaw and everything goes black.

As I am coming out of it I can feel my hands tied behind my back, my side is warm and sticky and I can hear Dean groaning. The one boy says to the old man, "Come on. Let us hunt them."

The other chimed in, "Yeah these two are fighters. Sure would be fun to hunt."

The older man laughs. Dean mumbled, "Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me. That's what this is about? You...you yahoos hunt people?"

The old man grabbed Dean by the hair, "You ever killed before?"

"Wh-" Dean laughs," Well, that depends on what you mean."

The old man replied, "I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. Oh boy. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful, alive."

"You're a sick puppy." I started to try to work on the ropes, but I was still woozy.

"We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy."

I shook my head, "You guys are plenty sloppy. Don't sell yourself short."

The old man looked at Dean again, "Are you and this pretty lady here cops?"

Dean snickers, "If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray? "

The one boy comes over and punches Dean in the face. The old man grabs Dean's hair again, forcing his face upwards, "Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know."

He grabbed a hot poker out of the fireplace. It was glowing. I laughed, "What? That you need to branch out and not marry your sister?"

He was pissed, "Tell me...any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you? "

"Oh, eat me. No, no, no, wait, wait, wait...you actually might" Dean replied and one boy grabbed my hair and pulled my head into place I couldn't move, the poker was inches from my face. I struggled hard against them. Dean looked over, horrified.

The old man was yelling, "You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family."

And with that he placed the poker on the base of my neck. I bit down so that I wouldn't scream. The smell of burning flesh was sickening. Dean struggled against his old man pulled back,"Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games. Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys."

He looked at Dean, "And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop?"

"Okay, wait, wait...look, nobody's comin' for us, alright? It's just us."

"You don't choose, I will." He placed the hot poker below the last mark and just held it there, close enough to burn but not to sear through. As he pushed harder I couldn't stop the scream.

Dean yelled, "You son of a bitch!"

"Next time, I'll take her eye"

"Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!" Everything was a little foggy around the edges, but I saw the old man grab a key from around his neck and throw it to one of the boys.

"Lee, go do it. Don't let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage."

Dean was enraged, "What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him. You were gonna give him a chance. "

"Lee, when you're done with the boy shoot the bitch, too. Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin' out here. I will take care of these two."

Seconds later we heard the shot from a rifle. Dean struggled harder against the ties, "You hurt my brother, I'll kill you, I swear. I'll kill you all. I will kill you all!"

The old man yells out the front door, "Lee!"

There is no response. He turns to the other boy, "Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch them now."

He grabs a few rifles and runs out the door. Missy holds the knife close to Dean's face but keeps a wary eye on me. I can feel my hands loosening the ropes behind me. We hear gunshots from the barn again and Dean struggles more against his bounds. I move my foot backwards and grab the knife out of my boot, work the ropes and I am free. I move fast, grab the girl and put my hand over her mouth, dragging her to a nearby closet that I shut her in. I push a bookcase in front of it for good measure. I stumbled forward.

"Jen! You alright?"

"Yeah, my head's a little fuzzy." I walked over and tried to bend over to cut the ropes, but I more crumpled and fell. The wound in my side and the probable concussion were taking its toll. I cut through the ropes. The second Dean was free he fell to his knees beside me and pulled my head up with both hands and examined my face, "You are going to be okay, we need to go get Sam and get the hell out of here."

"Okay" He pulled me to my feet and we sprinted out of the house, and ran headlong into Sam.

Dean grabbed his shoulders, looking him over and then pulled him into a bear hug. I jump at the sound of a lone and final gunshot. Sam and Dean exchange glances. The deputy had finished unfinished business. We walk down the porch steps as we see Kathleen walking out of the barn. She looks at all of us, "Where's the girl?"

"I locked her in a closet."

Dean jutted his head toward the barn, "What about the dad?"

The deputy thought for a moment, "Shot. Trying to escape custody."

We all exchanged looks. The guy had it coming, these were definitely some sick people. And if the situation was reversed and it had been my sibling, well, he had actually gotten off pretty easy. I would have tortured him for a few days before leaving him to the wolves. Kathleen was on her radio calling the situation in, a voice cracked back over.

"Backup unit en route to your location."

She walked over to where we were standing, "So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you're all long gone by then."

Dean nodded, "Thanks. Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride a few miles back to our car?"

Kathleen shook her head, "Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car."

Sam started to turn to walk Dean turned one last time to the deputy, "Listen, uh….I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth...but it isn't , you should go."

We started walking at a good clip down the road. I had my hand putting pressure on my side, it stung but the pain was clearing my head up. Suddenly Dean said, "Never do that again."

"Do what?", Sam asked

"Go missin' like that."

Sam laughed, "You were worried about me."

Dean ignored the comment, "All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for you."

"Sure, you won't. "

"I'm not."

Sam chuckled and I laughed, it hurt so much that I doubled over, shit. Mental note. Don't laugh for awhile. Dean grabbed my shoulder and pulled me upright again. Sam glanced at us, "So, you two got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?"

"Oh, shut up." Dean snapped

Sam playfully shoved Dean's shoulder, "Just sayin', gettin' rusty there, kiddo."

"Shut up." Dean responded gruffly, I laughed again. This time hard enough for me to fall onto my knees from the pain. Dean pulled me up again from under my right arm. His hand stayed firmly there this time, holding me steady. "Jesus, Jen. What the hell are we going to do with you?"

We eventually got to the Impala. I collapsed in the back seat and Dean drove us back to the motel. We got out and without even asking, I joined them in their room, "What do you guys got for stitches?"

Sam reached into his bag and threw me a homemade first aid kit. Inside was fishing line and a curved needle. I pulled off clothes down to my tank-top and pulled up the back left side. Right above and slightly behind my left hip was the stab. It probably wouldn't have even needed stitches if the bitch wouldn't have sliced forward. It also didn't help that I was extremely right-handed. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey out of my bag and poured it on. Dean was watching me with raised eyebrows, sitting on THAT bed, sipping on a beer as I tried to reach around to start stitching.

"Let me help you out.", he said as he got up.

"No.", I said sternly. Sam looked between us both.

"Come here." he prodded again.

"Absolutely not." I dared him to do something about it with my gaze. Sam cleared his throat "Did I miss something?"

"No." I snapped as I turned away and tried to start stitching again. But the damn thing was in such an awkward spot. Dean came up behind me and grabbed my arm firmly. I glared, "I swear I will shoot you."

"No you won't." He said as he shoved me toward the bed, "If you lay down I can stitch it a hell of a lot better and it will be cleaner."

"Freaking-ay." I mumbled, as he lightly shoved me. I was losing the battle and I did need help. I laid down on my stomach, face in a pillow. I could feel my face turning red. He pulled the corner of my shirt up and looked it over. I knew he was seeing years worth of scars. He pulled the shirt up a little further and shoved the top of my jeans down a little. I felt my ears turn red and there was no way I could hide that. Dean chuckled under his breath, "Calm yourself."

"I'm fine."

"Liar." He whispered and continued to stitch. I could feel each time the needle pierced through my skin. It was uncomfortable, but I was so used to it that it didn't even phase me. It made me no where near as uncomfortable as Dean's one hand holding my skin steady near the small of my back. I peaked over to the side once and caught his eye. His lips twitched, suppressing a smile . He was enjoying himself way too much. It was the most humiliating twenty minutes of my life.

When he was done I got up quickly, trying to maintain some dignity. Sam had already packed up.

"Are you guys ready to get the hell out of this town?", Sam asked.

"Definitely!", I replied.